magnifying glass

noun

An instrument made of convex glass, used to magnify.

Meanings

nounmagnifying glass (plural magnifying glasses)

plural magnifying glasses

  1. An instrument made of convex glass, used to magnify.

    The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.

    2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist
    1 more example

    Faced with this situation, the arrival of the Covid19 pandemic in late winter/early spring 2020 showed the real situation of the country, its fragility and the challenges it faces. Thus, analysis of the impact of Covid19 on Tunisia offers a useful magnifying glass to understand the path of Tunisia from the 2011 revolution to the present.

    2021, Renata Pepicelli, “The Unfinished Transition. The Post-revolutionary Path of Tunisia and the Test of Covid19. A Historical and Socio-Economic Perspective”, in Francesca Maria Corrao, Riccardo Redaelli, editors, States, Actors and Geopolitical Drivers in the Mediterranean: Perspectives on the New Centrality in a Changing Region, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 284

Synonyms & antonyms

nounlight microscope consisting of a single convex lens that is used to produce an enlarged image

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Arabic عَدَسَةٌ مُكَبِّرَة
  • عَدَسَةٌ مُكَبِّرَة (ʕadasatun mukabbira)instrument
Bengali আতশকাচ, বিবর্ধক কাচ
  • আতশকাচ (atśokac)instrument
  • বিবর্ধক কাচ (bibordhok kac)instrument
Bulgarian лу́па, увеличи́телно стъкло́
  • лу́па (lúpa)instrument
  • увеличи́телно стъкло́ (uveličítelno stăkló)instrument
Catalan lupa
  • lupainstrument
Chinese Cantonese 放大鏡 /放大镜
  • 放大鏡 /放大镜 (fong³ daai⁶ geng³)instrument
Chinese Mandarin 放大鏡 /放大镜
  • 放大鏡 /放大镜 (fàngdàjìng)instrument
Czech lupa, zvětšovací sklo
  • lupainstrument
  • zvětšovací skloinstrument
Danish lup, forstørrelsesglas
  • lupinstrument
  • forstørrelsesglasinstrument
Dutch vergrootglas, loep
  • vergrootglasinstrument
  • loepinstrument
Esperanto lupeo, grandiga vitro
  • lupeoinstrument
  • grandiga vitroinstrument
Estonian suurendusklaas, luup
  • suurendusklaasinstrument
  • luupinstrument
Finnish suurennuslasi
  • suurennuslasiinstrument
French loupe, verre grossissant
  • loupeinstrument
  • verre grossissantinstrument
German Lupe, Vergrößerungsglas
  • Lupeinstrument
  • Vergrößerungsglasinstrument
Hebrew זְכוּכִית מַגְדֶּלֶת
  • זְכוּכִית מַגְדֶּלֶת (zkhukhít magdélet)instrument
Hindi आवर्धक लेन्स
  • आवर्धक लेन्स (āvardhak lens)instrument
Hungarian nagyító
  • nagyítóinstrument
Icelandic stækkunargler
  • stækkunarglerinstrument
Indonesian lup, kaca pembesar
  • lupinstrument
  • kaca pembesarinstrument
  • suryakantainstrument
Irish gloine mhéadaithe
  • gloine mhéadaitheinstrument
Italian lente d'ingrandimento
  • lente d'ingrandimentoinstrument
Japanese 虫眼鏡, 拡大鏡
  • 虫眼鏡 (mushimegane)instrument
  • 拡大鏡 (kakudaikyō)instrument
  • ルーペ (rūpe)instrument
Korean 돋보기, 확대경
  • 돋보기 (dotbogi)instrument
  • 확대경 (hwakdaegyeong)instrument
  • 루페 (rupe)instrument
Latvian palielināmais stikls, lupa
  • palielināmais stiklsinstrument
  • lupainstrument
Lithuanian didinamasis stiklas, lupa
  • didinamasis stiklasinstrument
  • lupainstrument
Malay suryakanta, kanta pembesar
  • suryakantainstrument
  • kanta pembesarinstrument
Māori karaihe whakanui
  • karaihe whakanuiinstrument
Norwegian Bokmål lupe, forstørrelsesglass
  • lupeinstrument
  • forstørrelsesglassinstrument
Polish lupa, szkło powiększające
  • lupainstrument
  • szkło powiększająceinstrument
Portuguese lupa, lente de aumento
  • lupainstrument
  • lente de aumentoinstrument
Romanian lupă
  • lupăinstrument
Russian лу́па, увеличи́тельное стекло́
  • лу́па (lúpa)instrument
  • увеличи́тельное стекло́ (uveličítelʹnoje stekló)instrument
Slovak lupa, zväčšovacie sklo
  • lupainstrument
  • zväčšovacie skloinstrument
Spanish lupa
  • lupainstrument
Swahili kioo cha kukuza
  • kioo cha kukuzainstrument
Swedish förstoringsglas, lupp
  • förstoringsglasinstrument
  • luppinstrument
Tagalog pandako
  • pandakoinstrument
Thai แว่นขยาย
  • แว่นขยาย (wɛ̂n-kà-yǎai)instrument
Turkish büyüteç, pertavsız
  • büyüteçinstrument
  • pertavsızinstrument
Ukrainian лу́па, збі́льшувальне скло
  • лу́па (lúpa)instrument
  • збі́льшувальне скло (zbílʹšuvalʹne sklo)instrument
Urdu مُحَدَّب شِیشَہ
  • مُحَدَّب شِیشَہ (muhaddab śīśa)instrument
Vietnamese kính lúp, kiếng lúp
  • kính lúpinstrument
  • kiếng lúpinstrument
Welsh chwyddwydr
  • chwyddwydrinstrument
Cite this entry
APA

magnifying glass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magnifying%20glass

MLA

“magnifying glass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magnifying%20glass. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “magnifying glass,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magnifying%20glass.

Source: magnifying glass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.